A Roc and a Hard Place
by godricshollow7
Summary: Rolf and Luna Scamander find an unexpected discovery on a routine Hippogriff herd examination.


The trees seemed to whisper to each other as a soft wind blew through the forest, ruffling the hem of his close-cut hiking robe and the delicate layered skirt of his companion, raising it up to show off thick leather boots- the only practical thing his wife had chosen to wear that day. Her long silver-blonde hair was plaited down her back, tiny magical vines braided through the tresses, giving her a nymph-like quality as it curled around her temple and formed a crown of leaves. Across her shoulder her satchel fell, a patchwork bag sewn from sacks of potions ingredients and dyed purple, and as they walked she collected various flora and placed them inside it. The top she had chosen couldn't have been more out of place in a forest, with its pale yellow fabric and widened wrists lined with pearls that somehow complemented the lavender color of that damned layered skirt, absurd for a walk in the woods yet hugging her form delicately so that as out of place as she looked, she seemed much like she belonged.

Rolf Scamander had always loved his wife's individuality, her ability to stand out in a crowd. But as her skirt caught on yet another branch, he felt a sorrow for the delicate fabric.

"Luna, my love," he spoke, and as she turned towards him with a soft smile he continued, "Did you not put a tear-resistant charm on your skirt? You will have a lot of mending to do when we get back home."

Luna lifted a corner of her skirt to examine it closer, her eyes squinting in concentration as she held it between her fingers. "I don't mind," she decided with a soft smile, rubbing her fingers across a tear. "There is beauty in the damage, don't you think?"

There were times where many didn't understand Luna's way of thinking, the words she chose. But Rolf had a deeper understanding of how her mind worked. In this case, his wife was seeing something bigger in that tiny tear. She was saying that sometimes, it was okay to let things fall into disrepair. The item was not ruined, merely changed, and change wasn't necessarily a terrible thing. He reached out and pulled her close, running his fingers over the hem and saying, "You know, I think I like it better like this." He looked at her coyly, and she laughed, an airy, musical sound that warmed his heart.

Two small paws braced themselves on his thigh, and Rolf looked down into the panting face of their terrier-like Crup, his forked tail wagging eagerly. "What is it, Nargle?" he asked. "Ready to get to the valley?"

In response, Nargle- who was named by Luna for his "Nargle-like mischief" as a puppy- tore ahead through some underbrush, only to return moments later as if to say, "Why aren't you running?"

Rolf took Luna's hand in his and pulled her along, her skirt falling into place once more.

The forest was relatively quiet as they walked the well-known path to the Hippogriff breeding field. The stench of human must linger here, he thought, to keep this pathway relatively clear. When they had first begun observing this particular herd of Hippogriffs three years ago, that wasn't the case. The trail had been little more than a suggestion at the time, a route deer took to reach the nearby river. There used to be a Venomous Tentacula near the forest's edge. He hadn't noticed it right away, neither of them had, until Nargle- barely full grown at the time- yelped and rose in the air.

The poor crup had been wrapped in four tentacles by the time they stunned and sliced the plant down enough to pull him from its grasp. Rolf joked later that while he did feel awful for the pup, at least the Tentacula did them a favor and ate the relentless chizpurfles that had been infesting his fur.

The forest thinned before them; Luna let go of his hand and reached inside her bag. She handed him a notebook, a travel quill, and a set of binoculars and as they reached their usual vantage spot just past the trees she waved her wand to cover the bit of grass with a thin blanket. Nargle threw himself at the edge, wriggling his way underneath and Rolf and Luna sat on either side of the lump, Rolf leaning his arm against it, looking down the gentle slope to the valley.

"It looks like SkySong has finally laid an egg," Luna was saying, binoculars already up to her eyes. Rolf opened his notebook and started jotting down her observations. She was superior at him when it came to identifying the usual members of the herd, and had gone out of her way to name them- which, if he was honest, made his note keeping easier. It was much more convenient to refer to a creature by a name than by "Hippogriff Male- Silver Feathers Palominto" or "Golden Female #3." Whenever a new herd member was born or added he updated the roster with the name and description. So far, Luna had pointed out two new foals, and as he wrote down their description- Black with Sock Feet and Mottled Cream- she asked, "What do you think we should name them?"

"Well the cream reminds me of Butterbeer foam," he replied, looking through his own binoculars. "It would help to know the genders. It's so hard to tell from up here…"

"Does IronBeak seem to have a few more scars on him than last time? If his level of aggression keeps up I'm not sure we'll see him back here in the fall."

"Yeah, I think you're right. I have a feeling he's going to go off on his own after the foals are grown. Though Nectarine seems to favor him- maybe they'll start a herd together."

"Do you think we should put a tracking spell on them, to be safe?"

Before Rolf could answer his arm was unexpectedly jostled as Nargle wriggled free from the blanket and bounded down the hill with the speed of a pixie.

It was incredibly worrisome the first time their pup had run off into the valley of Hippogriffs, but the herd had paid him very little mind from the beginning, only growing irritated and snapping at him when he gleefully ran through their legs. They watched in amusement as Nargle trotted amongst the herd, tongue lolling, and approached the black foal with excitement. The foals were more playful, something that Nargle had learned over the years, and as he stretched his front legs into a tiny bow, the black foal perked up its wings and returned the gesture. Within moments the black foal and Nargle were tearing across the field in a game of chase, disapproving glares from the elder Hippogriffs not slowing them in the least.

The two were halfway up the hillside heading towards Rolf and Luna when a great shadow fell over the valley.

Halfway to their feet already, the pair froze. Below, the herd began to shift in agitation, and as Nargle dashed back to the safety of the blanket in fright, his winged companion nearly flew back to its calling mother. The sky darkened further, and with a great wind the trees surrounding the valley were stretched backwards as a great creature the size of a mountain coasted above them, wings outstretched for what Rolf could only assume was over a dozen meters.

"What in the world…?" he whispered, frozen in awe as his clothing was ripped back and forth in the sudden wind. Movement to his left tore his eyes away from the creature and he turned in time to see Luna scaling a tree. "Luna love, what are you doing?" he shouted after her. The wind from the- it was obviously some kind of bird- made it difficult to hear her response, so he moved closer to the tree, Nargle following desperately at his heels with his tails between his legs. "What do you see?" he shouted up the tree at his wife's booted feet. "Is it an enlarged Hoo-hoo?"

"That's no Hoo-Hoo," she responded excitedly, "Come up here and see!"

"I'll be back," he called to Nargle, who was curled up in some tree roots squinting against the wind, his ears pressed tightly against his head. Rolf hastily hiked his foot up on a knot in the trunk and accepted his wife's helping hand as he made his way into the tree himself.

When he was at her level Luna pulled a large branch down and pointed through the exposed foliage. "How wide is that wingspan- 14, 15 meters?"

"Has to be; look at the shadow it created." He rustled through her sack at her hip and pulled out a relatively small wizard's camera. As he prepared it, he asked, "What do you think something like this eats?"

"You're assuming it does eat," Luna replied, writing down notes in her notebook under a quick sketch- she was always better at sketching than he was. "Something that size could feast on all of Hogsmeade and still have room to finish off the Thestral herd at Hogwarts."

"Well yeah, but Thestrals are just skin and bones. I could snack on a whole Thestral and still be hungry." With each snap of his camera a small plume of smoke erupted, and Luna quickly fanned it away with her quill. "What I wouldn't do for it to shed a feather right now."

"One of its feathers might squash the herd," Luna retorted. "Who, by the way, look incredibly agitated. I think RiverRock is getting ready to attack." Rolf looked down quickly and saw one of the younger males rearing up and flexing its mud brown wings.

"Biting off more than we can chew, are we, RiverRock?" Rolf's picture taking halted as he asked, "Are we sure this isn't an enlarged bird of some sort? It looks faintly like an eagle to me."

"I don't believe so." Luna shook her head, studying the unknown bird. "I don't think an enlarged bird's structure would be able to hold up under that much weight. A normal eagle would not be able to fly at that size."

"Where on earth did it _come_ from?"

After what felt like only moments, the mysterious bird moved out of the path of the sun. The blinding reappearance of sunlight pained their eyes so much that the two had to turn their heads, blinking back tears, and when they were finally able to see again, the massive creature had disappeared- and with it, the strong and sudden winds.

"What-" Rolf quickly shoved his camera in Luna's arms and dropped down from the tree, searching the skies desperately. "How does a bird the size of a mountain disappear within moments? Did it teleport?"

Behind him the tree rustled and he turned in time to see his thoroughly unkempt wife jump from a low branch. "Maybe it teleported," she suggested, pulling leaves and branches from the magical greenery in her hair.

"Love…" Rolf's eyes fell down her form and rested on what was once a lovely, lavender layered skirt but was now a filthy, disheveled mess of tree leaves, dirt, and snags. With a grimace he sighed, "I told you to wear hiking robes today. Look at the state of you."

Luna glanced down and beamed. "That doesn't matter at all," she replied, running to him for an embrace. She looked up at the sky, arms on his shoulders, and as his eyes followed hers she asked, "What do you think we just found?"


End file.
